SWIFT bans several North Korean banks, WSJ reports

Illustration picture shows the SWIFT logo at their headquarters in Brussels, 26 June 2006.

Jacques Collet | AFP | Getty Images

The world's most important financial messaging service has banned several North Korean banks, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, issued the ban in recent weeks, according to the Journal. The service is extremely important for undertaking international banking transactions and countries that lack access to SWIFT have been forced into barter trades or resorting to smuggling, the Journal reported.

The ban follows evidence from United Nations investigators that showed the North Korean banks using SWIFT's services despite being on the list of U.S. sanctions, the newspaper added.